“You’re hot when you’re feisty,” Carter says with a cocky grin.
I raise my eyebrows as he leans closer to me. And then Carter is gone, jerked away by Ric. I’m about to let my foot become very well acquainted with Ric’s ankle for taking Carter away, but he darts off, chasing down Carter.
“No googly eyes during training,” Ric yells.
I hear Carter laugh and then Ric groans as Carter gets the advantage again. Maple attacks from behind. She’s good with those sneak attacks. Nothing’s off-limits (except guy parts and googly eyes, as Ric so eloquently said), so while they spar with each other, I conjure up my magic.
It’s a lot easier to call up now, like it’s more in tune with me. I make sure to picture it, and then send a wall of magic toward the boys and Maple. It shoots them across the floor in opposite directions. I move my hand and pin both boys against the wall where they land. Maple comes at me, and I pin her too. Their groans echo one another.
I walk slowly by Ric, enjoying my win.
“This is low, Penelope Grey. I know where you live.”
“You’re just mad because you didn’t think of it,” I say.
“Maybe,” he says.
“Let me down,” Maple says.
I shake my head and move toward Carter. His eyes have been following me across the room since I pinned him. “So, you think you’ve won?”
I cross my arms. “Oh, that’s pretty clear.”
“Magic is a low move in a spar,” Carter says softly.
“There were no rules about magic,” I say. I walk to him and stand up on my tiptoes so I’m in his face. “Besides, I like magic.”
“I like you,” he whispers, his lips touching mine. Across the room, I hear Ric gagging. I turn away from Carter and tighten my magical hold on Ric until he coughs. Then I let him go and he falls to the floor with a thud. I let Maple go with him.
I love magic. I can’t believe I didn’t have it for so long.
“You okay?” I call out to Ric, not looking over. He responds with a moan.
“You win. Make your googly eyes now. We’ll be somewhere else.”
I don’t look away from Carter, but I hear Ric’s footsteps and their muttering fades as he and Maple leave the room. Carter stares at me, his lips only seconds from mine.
“You gonna let me go now?”
I shake my head and lean into the space between us, pressing my mouth to his. All he can do is tilt his face to meet mine as I stretch up on my tiptoes. But with his lips on mine, I can’t focus on the magic. His feet touch the ground, firmly planted now, and his hands run through my hair.
He lets out a soft moan and crushes me to him. He shifts, twisting me around until my back is against the wall— which is the only thing keeping me standing. My heart is racing in my chest and the magic feels wild, loose.
“God, are they at it again?” Connie yells. When did she get here? I should’ve never told her where we practiced.
I hear Ric laugh. “Four days of this, Ric. Four. Am I that annoying with Thomas?”
“Worse. And I’ve made it a new habit to make sure they’re decent before I come into a room.”
They grow quiet and Maple yells, “I’m leaving! Bye, lovebirds!”
Carter pulls away from me slowly and I lean my forehead against his. “I’m going to kill them,” I whisper.
“We can continue later,” he says, placing a chaste kiss to my temple. God, that’s like the sexiest thing ever. “Let me grab my backpack.”
I walk into the foyer. Connie and Ric smile at me—completely large, cheesy smiling—and they both snicker. “Stop,” I say to my sister, strapping my bag on my shoulder.
She shrugs. “I didn’t do anything. Did I do anything?”
Ric’s eyes get wide, a dumbfounded expression on his face. “I didn’t see anything.”
I roll my eyes at them. “Why are you here?”
“I told you this morning: Ric said we could have lunch today. I’m here to rescue you all for food.” Right. I’d forgotten. Connie reaches out and pulls me into a hug, still all smiles.
“It’s cute to see you happy.” She actually bounces in place. If she were a dog, she’d totally be wagging her tail, and probably peeing on things.
I look around the room for Carter, but he’s turning off the lights in the back rooms. Ric looks at Connie.
“I wonder if kissing gives you endorphins? Like exercise?” Ric asks.
“Always makes me happy,” she says back. I groan.
Ric laughs. “We love that you have a boy toy. We have to mock you.”
“Especially such a hot boy toy,” my sister adds.
“Indeed,” Ric agrees, bumping shoulders with my sister. It looks a little ridiculous, since she’s so much shorter than he is. It’s more like shoulder-to-head bump. Carter comes into the room and stands between us. He obviously knows we were talking about him.
Connie clears her throat. “Lunch?”
Connie, Carter, Ric, and I walk in line across the sidewalk on our way to lunch. Ric walks next to me and gives me mocking looks as Carter explains to Connie about the life cycle of an indigenous plant he saw in Costa Rica—and she’s going on and on about the ecosystem. I’m glad that my boyfriend and sister get along. Really, it’s a dream.
Carter’s mid-sentence when he stops walking and puts out a hand to us. He looks over at me, his eyes wide. “Do you smell that?”
I take a second and sniff the air before I nod. “Sulfur.”
“Looks like we’ve got company,” Ric says. He looks at my sister. “You should go on ahead.”
Connie crosses her arms. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere.”
Carter looks from me to my sister and back to me. “She’s just like you.”
“Welcome to my life for the last twelve years,” Ric says.
I shrug, but really, it makes me happy. She is like me, and we’re both like Gran and Mom in how we never give up. The thought makes me pause. Emmaline Spencer seems pretty stubborn too. From what I’ve read from her, which is a lot of her caring about what her family thinks and how she doesn’t live up, she also seems unwilling to change. I guess it’s genetic.
“Follow my lead,” Carter says.
We maneuver our way through Old Town and surprisingly, it’s not that busy today. Carter leads us to the right by a cupcake shop, and when we get around the corner toward the waterfront, there’s a demon waiting for us.
No words are spoken before it launches itself at Connie. I jump between them in time to take the hit in a clumsy attack. Cold, scaly hands grab me. I flip around and it pulls me away by the throat. I knee it, kick it, try to conjure up my magic and as soon as I do Carter pushes me out of the way.
Ric throws a blast of magic at the demon, hitting it square in its maroon face. It falls with a groan. Another one—a blue one—comes out of nowhere and swings its fist in retaliation. It must have been waiting for us. Ric ducks, pulling Connie out of the way.
“Behind you,” I shout as the maroon one gets back to its feet.
The ground shakes. I press my hand against the wall so I don’t fall over, try to focus on my magic and get an image, but as soon as do, this yellow-ish demon jumps me. How many freaking demons are here? I crash to the ground. I roll off it and back to my feet, but it’s fast too. It reaches for me, a knife in one hand. A demon with a knife. Asshat.
There’s a screeching on the other end of the alley and when I look, all I see is the blue demon is exploding into bits. Connie stands beside it, her hands shielding her face, blue guts dripping off her. Go sister.